In my automotive jaunts into museums, shows, concepts, and classic collections, I seem to run into the Crosley nameplate a lot. Crosley was founded by manufacturing magnate Powel Crosley Jr. in 1939 and went out of business in 1952. The company built its vehicles in Indiana and was headquartered in Ohio. If the dates don’t give it away, Crosley was side railed and eventually killed by World War II.
During WWII, Crosley produced some oddball, quirky, and even downright goofy vehicles in support of the Allies. Before we look at those, we should look at the company itself.
A Quick Look at Crosley’s History
Crosley is one of those companies that might still be here today if it weren’t for the global war that greatly changed industries at that time. Founded just before the war really began, Crosley made compact economy cars that became relatively popular in the American market. Nowhere near rivaling big players like General Motors or Ford, of course, but enough that the company might have stayed in operation indefinitely as a niche seller.
Powel and his newly-graduated engineer of a brother Lewis opened their automotive plant in Marion, Indiana. And quickly began introducing the nameplate on vehicles. The first of which was a two-door convertible called the Crosley. It was the cheapest car on the market at the time. It expanded to a station wagon, a pickup truck, and two versions of a panel van. The “Covered Wagon” model that also appeared combined the pickup with the wagon by including a detachable soft-cover rear section and removable back seat. A direct copy/homage to the 2CV from Citroen that Crosley greatly admired.
By 1942, as sales were beginning to finally catch up, the efficiency of the Crosley models became a high point as consumers reacted to rumblings of war rationing. That rationing soon meant that consumer-grade vehicles were no longer being produced as government and industry pivoted to production for the war effort. Crosley included.
World War II Put Crosley on the Back Burner
Like the rest of America, Crosley quickly retooled to begin supporting efforts to separate the Germans, Italians, and Japanese from their aspirations of conquest. The Crosley name (later Crosmobile in Europe) was only just beginning to be known before war broke out.
Crosley’s production during the war was almost entirely devoted to support products for other manufacturers. Things like proximity fuses, transceivers, and the like. Troop support items like field kitchens, gun turrets, and trailers were also being made. Including turrets for B-24 and B-29 bombers.
But as those things were being produced, Crosley experimented with prototype vehicles for war-time use.
The CT-3 Pup
The most well-known of those is the Crosley CT-3 “Pup.” This was a tiny Jeep-style vehicle that carried one passenger with space for a few items of cargo. It had a small tow hitch and used Crosley’s little two-cylinder boxer-style engine.
The U.S. Army tested the Pup and found it inadequate and too unreliable for service. Though Crosley’s engines were specifically mentioned for their robustness.
Crosley made about 36 of the CT-3 for testing, including a few sent to Europe. Of those, only seven are known to still survive.
Military Motorcycles
Another design was a two- and three-wheeled motorcycle prototype. Both used the Crosley boxer engine with a shaft drive. The two-wheeled motorcycle was outgunned by several designed from more established motorcycle makers. The tricycle or tri-wheel model, however, showed promise and received great interest from the military before eventually being considered too unreliable for service.
It’s unknown how many motorcycle prototypes were made for testing, but only a small handful of them survive today.
Crosley Mule
Among the many light truck and tracked vehicle prototypes Crosley took to varying levels of prototype modeling was the Mule. A single-passenger, lightweight, tracked vehicle, the Mule was meant to serve as an equipment hauler and short-range delivery vehicle.
The Mule steered by means of simple levers and operated with a throttle and clutch. Several prototypes with various accessories and design changes were made, but the Mule never won approval for military contract and was never produced beyond those prototypes. The design did eventually culminate into what would become Crosley’s small farm tractor after the war.
After the War
Post-war, Crosley continued to make vehicles. It was one of the first companies to produce a new model for market after the war and introduced several engineering and safety firsts. Crosley pioneered slab-sided production, the overhead camshaft engine (below), was first to use the term Sport Utility, and the first automaker to use caliper-type disc brakes on all four wheels by default. Crosley also produced the first post-war volume production sports car with the Hotshot.
Some of Crosley’s war-time prototypes became production models as well. The Farm-O-Road mini-Jeep-like model had a front power takeoff and was based on what was learned from Pup prototypes. The Farm-O-Road came long before popular, similar designs from John Deere and others introduced their versions.
After the war, however, Crosley faced stiffer competition from both foreign and domestic sources. Troubles with reliability reputation further sunk sales. The automotive arm of Crosley’s brands closed in 1952. Despite five-figure unit sales numbers each year after war’s end.
In the end, the CoBra “tin block” engine that had proven itself in the war proved to be far less reliable under less diligent civilian maintenance. Despite replacing the engine in 1949 with a better option, the damage to Crosley’s reputation had already been done.
After over 84,000 cars produced post-war, Crosley shut down its production lines. Only its engines continued production, at least until the government contract for them was fulfilled. Then rights to the engine were sold and the Indiana plant was sold to General Tire.
Today, Crosley vehicles can be found in many private collections and museums.
Photos courtesy of Wikimedia.org.
